Paper Talk - 07 January 2013

Regional Paper Talk: Lazio take Long look

West Brom striker Shane Long is understood to be a target for Lazio, while Manchester United face a fight with Tottenham over Wilfried Zaha.

Jack Wilshere is confident Arsenal will repeat the success of Arsene Wenger's early years if they can win the FA Cup this season.

Demba Ba accepts Fernando Torres will continue to be Chelsea's first-choice striker regardless of how well he does for the club.

Rio Ferdinand has backed his former West Ham team-mate Joe Cole to make a success of his return to Upton Park.

Giorgos Karagounis wants his Fulham team-mates to invoke the spirit of Greece's shock European Championship triumph as they bid to go all the way to Wembley.

Martin Jol will continue to monitor the progress of Standard Liege keeper Sinan Bolat after he returned to Belgium this week.

Fenando Torres is pleased about Demba Ba's arrival at Chelsea because he can now have a rest, claims Rafael Benitez.

United could face an uphill battle with Tottenham over the possible signing of Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha.

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis would prefer to see Mario Balotelli partner Edinson Cavani at the San Paolo than consider selling his star striker to Manchester City.

Phil Jagielka wants to end his career at Everton after signing a new deal at Goodison Park.

Alan Pardew says it simply wasn't possible to field his strongest team in the FA Cup third round.

Sunderland are understood to have agreed a fee with Turkish side Bursaspor for midfielder Alfred N'Diaye.

Alan Pardew has promised to keep calm and "work around the clock" to strengthen his Newcastle United squad this week.

France Under-21 midfielder Alfred N'Diaye is poised to become Sunderland's first signing of the January transfer window. But the transfer of the 6ft 2in defensive midfielder from Turkish side Bursaspor is not as imminent as has been suggested and the Black Cats will not be unveiling him today.

Swansea City are being heavily linked with Real Betis midfielder Jose Canas, with sources in Spain claiming Swans have offered one million euros for the player, and that a slightly higher bid is likely to land him.

Shane Long has targeted a permanent return to the West Brom team as Italian side Lazio were linked heavily with a January move for the striker.

West Brom defender Gabriel Tamas today admitted he is playing for his future as he revealed he wants to extend his Hawthorns contract.

Aston Villa players today revealed their desire for club captain Stiliyan Petrov to lead the team out at Wembley if they reach the Capital One Cup final.

Leeds United assistant manager Mick Jones has admitted that bids for Luciano Becchio and Sam Byram are almost certain to arrive this month.

Celtic midfielder Beram Kayal expects to learn this week if Norwich intend to make an offer.

Southampton will step up their efforts to sign a central defender after Jose Fonte was carried off against Chelsea.

Police have confirmed they arrested a Chelsea fan for throwing a smoke grenade on to the pitch at St Mary's.

Adam Le Fondre dedicated his FA Cup brace to his late aunty who died on New Year's Eve after suffering from cancer.

Mike Pollitt believes Wigan may have unearthed a gem in Angelo Henriquez if the loanee's debut is anything to go by.

Barnsley are resigned to losing Wales striker Craig Davies to Bolton after confirming a bid for the 26-year-old has been accepted.

Bolton boss Dougie Freedman has backed himself to help Marvin Sordell beat a Twitter "obsession".

Blackburn have rejected a bid from West Ham for Martin Olsson.

SFL chief executive David Longmuir has admitted a major problem with the proposed change to three divisions of 12, 12 and 18 will be overcoming resistance from supporters to its mid-season split.

Motherwell captain Keith Lasley is hoping that the sale of Jamie Murphy will raise funds for manager Stuart McCall.

Celtic could make offers for Nigeria defenders Rami Derhon and Juwon Oshinawa.

Rangers boss Ally McCoist has backed Neil Alexander to bounce back from his costly blunder against Elgin City.

Celtic have stepped up their interest in Portuguese winger Helder Barbosa.

Rami Gershon has all but signed for Celtic, having spent the weekend in Glasgow finalising his loan deal from Standard Liege.